About three hours before the Bulls hosted San Antonio Saturday in their home opener, beleaguered power forward Bobby Portis stepped in front of a crowd of cameras and microphones, apologized for the haymaker that sent teammate Nikola Mirotic to the hospital and accepted his eight-game suspension “as a man.”

“I’m wrong for what I did,” Portis said in his opening statement. “I want to publicly apologize to Niko. I feel like I let my fans, the Bulls organization, and most importantly my teammates down. This is not who Bobby Portis is.”

Portis spent four minutes delivering monotone answers to every question that lingers from Tuesday’s incident during the team’s intrasquad scrimmage. Gone was Portis’ well-known engagement. Missing was direct eye contact and his patented animation. And for as contrite as Portis seemed, one of his answers lent credence to a question that won’t go away anytime soon.

Can the power forward duo now coexist?

“Yes, I can coexist with Niko going forward,” Portis said.

But then, Portis was asked if he’s talked to Mirotic. And that’s when Portis revealed just how much damage he'd apparently done.

The Bulls have placed a four-to-six week recovery on Mirotic after he sustained a concussion and maxillary fractures in the practice fracas. Executive vice president John Paxson said surgery is likely the best option for Mirotic, but the decision ultimately rests with the player and his representatives. Mirotic’s concussion must first subside before surgery can be administered, according to Paxson. Mirotic remains away from the Bulls as he heals.

In explaining his actions, Portis repeatedly said “things happen” after classifying the incident as two players locked in an intense competition. Portis stressed that no part of Tuesday’s fight had anything to do with frustration boiling over.

Portis has bounced in and out of the lineup in his first two seasons and has yet to have his fourth-year option exercised prior to the Oct. 31 deadline. He was praised for his diligence working out this offseason, a commitment that earned him the starting spot in the preseason opener. Mirotic, on the other hand, is three weeks removed from inking a two-year, $27 million extension and was poised to enter this season manning the starting power forward position after winning the job in preseason.

On Saturday, Portis rejected the notion that the fight had anything to do with him not winning the starting job.

“No, it did not,” Portis said. “Like I said, we were competing in practice. Things got heated. And the situation occurred.

“I was surprised by my own reaction because that’s not who I was as I first stated. I’m a competitor at the end of the day, but I never meant to hurt my own teammates.”

Portis said he is not concerned at this time whether Mirotic will seek legal action, saying his focus was simply publicly apologizing to Mirotic and showing “that I’m real sincere about the situation.” Portis declined to provide more detail about what led to his punch, the lone swing in the squabble. When asked on separate occasions whether he was shoved or Mirotic instigated the fight, Portis reverted to, “We were just competing.”

As he moves forward, Portis said he wants to be “gentle and kind about the situation.” But a sit-down between Portis and Mirotic has yet to be arranged.

“I want to make sure that me and Niko are cool and that we can be teammates again,” Portis said. “And I’m pretty sure we can. We just have to repair this relationship.”

As for his reaction to the length of his suspension, Portis took his eight game penalty in stride.

“I got suspended, and it’s my fault. I take it as a man,” he said. “I’m just trying to repair my relationship with everybody.”

Darnell Mayberry joined The Athletic Chicago in 2017 and covers the Bulls. He spent 12 years at The Oklahoman, where he handled the Thunder beat before moving into an editor’s role. Prior to The Oklahoman, Darnell covered the University of Akron men's basketball, preps and recruiting at the Akron Beacon Journal. He is the author of "100 Things Thunder Fans Should Should Know & Do Before They Die." Follow Darnell on Twitter @DarnellMayberry.